This invention deals with improvements upon a fly tying device disclosed in Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562, and also relates to other applications requiring such devices. Various clamping, support and holding devices for facilitating the tying of flies, insects or lures onto fish hooks have been disclosed in the prior art. Patents of secondary interest to the Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562 are Reichenstein et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,120,571, Evans U.S. Pat. No. 2,166,585, Pannier U.S. Pat. No. 2,236,781, Fong U.S. Pat. No. 2,486,142 and Murray U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,613.
Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562, entitled FLY TYING DEVICE, includes a rotary shaft bent at a fixed angle. The shaft is rotatable about its longitudinal axis, and is driven by a one-way clutch for rotating the shaft about the longitudinal axis in one direction. A variable drag mechanism is included with an adjusting ring for inducing variable drag and for holding the shaft at any rotational position.
Also disclosed is a clamping device, including a pair of jaws mounted on the end of the rotary shaft at a fixed compound angle to the axis of the shaft. The free end of the jaws terminate immediately adjacent to the longitudinal axis of the rotary shaft. When a fishhook is held in the jaws, the shank is fully exposed and is coaxial with the longitudinal axis.
The shaft and clutch are mounted on a adjustable height column and a clamp base is attached to the other end of the column to secure the device to a table or other surface. A thread cradle with a thread hanger is mounted on the column and a spring clip for holding fly making components is mounted on the shaft.
Now considering the use of the device of Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562 in the manufacture of a fly, a fish hook is clamped in the jaws such that the shank axis is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the rotary shaft. A thread or filament is fed over the hanger hook. A suitable fly or feather is mounted on the shank and secured by the thread as the rotary shaft is rotated by the user. The thread is wound around the shank in one direction, thus tying the fly on to the hook shank. Extra feathers may be placed and held on the spring clip until needed. As additional flies or feathers are affixed to the shank in the manner described above, the shank remains coaxial with the rotary shaft axis permitting the manufacture of a precision fly.
While the Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562 affords advantages over the other prior art by enabling full and unrestricted exposure of the hook, and because of the ease of manipulation and rotation, several shortcomings exist. The clamping device restricts the maximum hook size to #2/0 due to the mechanical advantage limitations of the clamping device. The fixed angle at which the clamping device is mounted on the rotary shaft requires the cumbersome and time consuming substitution of three jaw chuck sizes to accommodate a reasonable range of hook sizes. This fixed angle also further limits the sizes of hooks able to be rotated co-axially with the rotary shaft axis to below #2.
Thus, the maximum hook size actually usable by the device is a #2 hook despite the ability of the clamping device to securely grip a larger #2/0 hook size. Also, the adjusting ring on the drag mechanism provides for tedious and imprecise settings of drag and for locking of the rotary shaft. This in turn limits the precision of the flies manufactured by the device by not providing for precise filament tension while rotating the shaft.
Neither Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562 nor any of the prior art enables the user to work on the full practical range of hook sizes, from #32 up to #14/0, currently used in the sport of fly fishing. The alternative is to clamp the fishhook in a stationary vice and rotate the filament, a method which is far less accurate. No prior art provides a clamping means capable of securely gripping the larger hook sizes. Also, the prior art is unable to align the shank of larger hook sizes coaxially with the axis of the rotatable shaft. For example, in the Renzetti U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,562, this limitation is imposed by the fixed compound angle at which the clamping means are attached. Also, none of the prior art allows for precise variable drag to be induced on the rotatable shaft, thus limiting the ease and efficiency of the fly tying procedure, as well as the precision of the finished fly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a holding device which overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a clamping device capable of securely engaging the full practical range of hook sizes, i.e. from #32 up to #14/0.
Yet another object is to provide a device capable of rotating the hook shank co-axially about a rotary shaft axis to allow for precision fly tying for the full usable range of hook sizes currently used in the sport of fly fishing, i.e. #32 up to #14/0.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a friction device capable of inducing precise variable drag upon the rotation of the shaft and for easily locking the shaft in any rotatable position.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.